


Little Talks

by suddenlycomics



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 20:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlycomics/pseuds/suddenlycomics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few days after joining the crew of the SR-2, Garrus gets a call from Shepard in the middle of the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Talks

It had been a few days since Garrus had come aboard the new Normandy. He had kept to the Forward batteries mostly. While the Cerberus crew had been polite enough to him, he preferred working on calibrating or tweaking the guns since it kept his mind off failing his team. With the calibrations, diagnostics, and checking in with some contacts to see if they had found anything on Sidonis yet, he had been prepared to sleep when his omni-tool alerted him to a call from Shepard.

“Need me for something?” Garrus said sleepily as he answered the call.

“Garrus?” Shepard said, her breathing erratic and he realized she was hyperventilating

“Shepard? Are you alright?” Garrus asked, off his cot and nearly out the door to head up to her room before he stopped himself, knowing bursting into Shepard’s room when she was like this was probably not the best plan. Her breathing evened out and eventually she spoke again.

“I-it’s nothing. I shouldn’t have called.” Shepard said

“With all due respect, that didn’t sound like nothing.” Garrus said. “I’m awake now anyway so if you want to talk, I’ll be here if you need me.” It was silent for a while and he thought she had hung up when she replied.

“Could I come down there?”

“Of course. I’ll have the door open for you.” He said. It was only then he became aware that she might be uncomfortable with his lack of sleeping attire. The idea of putting on special sleeping clothes wasn’t exactly a Turian concept. Even so, he dug around in the box of stuff someone had collected from his base on Omega and was grateful to find a pair of pants which he slipped on as quickly as he could. He was contemplating whether or not a shirt was also considered necessary for sleeping by human standards when he heard the doors behind him open.

Shepard walked in and headed straight for the console without even acknowledging him. She leaned her weight against it, head bowed with her hair obscuring her face. Even so, the red glow from her scars still were visible through the strands. He noticed she was wearing loose grey pants and a matching grey jacket with a hood made of light materials. In that moment, he realized this was the first time he had seen her out of any sort of armor, uniform, or dress blues.

Also, that her waist looked supportive.

The thought was pushed away as soon it appeared. There would be plenty of time to ponder where the hell that line of thought came from later. When the only person in the galaxy who still believed in him looked like she had reached her breaking point was definitely not the time. 

“Did you know there is a window above the bed in my cabin?” Shepard asked, her voice unsure.

“I haven’t been up there.” Garrus said tentatively, not sure where this was going.

“I had a dream about what happened over Alchera. I woke up feeling like I couldn’t breathe and then all I saw was stars. For a second, I thought it was two years ago like all this was some dream of a dying mind.” She said as a shudder overtook her. “I feel like the Illusive Man had them install it to remind me that if they could bring me back they can just kill me again.”

Garrus was silent as his mind tried to process all the emotions that hit him. First was the guilt for not being there but that was an old wound. There was also anger at how they could include a window there when she had been spaced. It wasn’t unlikely Cerberus did it to mess with Shepard but it was something so subtly vindictive that it would be disturbing. Last was the confusion.

“Kill you again? I got a message from Tali, didn’t see it until I came aboard, but she told me you said you almost died and they rebuilt you?” Garrus asked and he saw Shepard’s shoulders slouch further.

“According to Jacob, I was just meat and tubes when they brought me in. The Illusive Man spent 4 billion credits to bring me back the way I was. As far as I can tell from the files they left lying around I’m really me.” Shepard said, her hands going up to her face tracing her scars. “I remember literally freezing while I tried to just breathe even though I knew there wasn’t air. Next thing I remember is waking up in a Cerberus base under attack and that was only two weeks ago. When I met Tali again, it was too much to face at the time-”

Shepard stopped speaking and wrapped her arms around herself. When she didn’t speak again, Garrus got up and put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed under his touch for a moment before relaxing.

“When you appeared on Omega, I thought I was hallucinating. I’d been up for days, using stims to stay awake so it seemed more likely than you being there. Hell, I even sent a concussive round your way to see how or even if other people reacted. It wasn’t until I saw how you commanded your squad and how you fought that I knew it was you. It was also the first time I knew I was going to get off Omega.” Shepard turned around at that, her eyes sparked with unvoiced questions of how he could trust her so much, especially now. In spite of that, he continued.

“No matter what happens next, I got your six. And if Cerberus thinks they can screw you over after all this is done then they’ve underestimated the kind of damage we can do when we work together.” Shepard laughed at that and Garrus felt that was an accomplishment to be proud of.

“Thanks, Garrus. I guess I needed to hear that.” She said, as a small smile formed on her lips. He noticed her color seemed off and there were dark circles under her eyes that he knew shouldn’t be there. 

“When was the last time you slept?” He asked causing her to frown.

“I slept enough when I was dead.” She replied tersely, reminding him of his sister when she had been younger and refused to go to bed because he had been up.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to get this Jack out of a prison ship filled with dangerous criminals. You know our missions never are routine so you should get some rest.” Garrus replied before turning and getting a rolled up mat from the box. “Why don’t you try sleeping on the cot? There’s no window in here and a change of scenery might help.” In response, Shepard’s lips did that weird thing where one side was tugging upwards.

“And why can’t I have the mat?” She asked, reaching for it even as he moved it out of her reach.

“Because you’re the one who needs a good night’s rest and your my guest. It’s a Turian thing and I’ll be deeply insulted if you ask again.” Garrus replied, mandibles flared in a grin.

“Uh-huh.” Shepard said, not buying it even as she sat down on the cot. He rolled out the mat near the console as she made herself comfortable. Remembering something, he dug around in the box and found an extra blanket that he threw her way.

“Don’t you need one?” Shepard asked as she pulled the blanket around her.

“It’s not really cold enough for me to really need one. Also that one isn’t made for Turians so it gets caught on everything.” He explained. She hummed in response, eyes closed already.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Shepard said softly.

“There is nowhere else I’d rather be.” He replied, knowing it was true. Although, maybe he just hadn’t realized it until now. Shepard fell asleep not too long after that and he followed suite.

The next morning, Shepard was gone by the time he woke up, leaving the blanket all folded up. At the mission briefing, she looked better with some of her color returning to her cheeks. More telling was her manner was relaxed instead of stilted and slightly twitchy like it had been the past few days. When it was over and everyone filed out, she placed her hand on his shoulder briefly before heading out herself. 

She didn’t come over or call that night which he took as a good thing. About a week later, after their stop to the Citadel, he found a box from Shepard in the main battery. Garrus opened it, finding a set of Turian made sheets. He stared at them in confusion wondering if this was Shepard’s way of saying thank you or if she knew this was one of the ways Turians showed they were interested in starting a relationship.

He was also confused why the second option didn’t bother him all.

**Author's Note:**

> Something that was born out of musing on Tumblr while I was editing "Trust". I decided to go ahead and post it here.


End file.
